trickydicky Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 i have just booked one way to france.am reluctant to book return crossing yet, as we have no exact date when we need to return by, although it is a very good price at the moment. is it easy to book from spain / france, does anyone know .if it is easy i will just book a few days in advance from abroad.i know it is expensive if you just turn up at the port and pay. any advice please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmac Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 Last year I also booked a single,outward leg by Sea France but on returning to Calais and trying to book the return was told it was 240Euros. I pointed out to the surly guy behind the counter that on the internet it was 135Euros and he gave a Gallic shrug but when pressed said this was the Online price and his was the turn up and go price. I went next door and got a P & O trip for 108 Euros. I did not book on the internet as I was using Wifi outside a McDonalds just to check price and availability but it was not secure. We hope to go end of this year and have found a return trip on Sea France for £84.00 albeit at rather unsociable hours ( This includes a dog ). Hope this is useful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpy carol Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 hi we travelled over from dover to calais with p&o in march 2008 i booked it over the phone a few days in advance ,it only cost £32 for 8.5 metre motorhome and two adults,we returned in june and because we did not book in advance the return trip was £100 ,I was informed if i had phoned a couple of days in advance it would have almost been the same price as the outward trip.Hope this helps carol r Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klyne Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 A possible problem for the future of not booking the return crossing is that more people seem to be going over to the same pricing formular as the cheap airlines. So cheap when there is plenty of availability but more expensive when the boats/trains start to fill up. Eurotunnel already do this and Norfolk Line are about to follow. If I was in that situation I would look and book online a few days before I was due to return. Should not be a problem with a laptop and WiFi providing you have proper, upto date security on the laptop. Mind you I would only pay by CC using that method. It would also be useful to have a small printer for the e-mail confirmation. Otherwise you just have to allow for the potential extra expense in your holiday costs. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kontiki Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 We have done it before with no problem, I had all the phone numbers for the different ferry companies (the regional numbers not the 0870 ones) we got to Cap Gris Nez just south of Calais where it was possible to get a UK mobile phone signal on O2 then just rang around to get the best deal using my free UK mobile minutes. Got one for the next day or £30 on Sea France. Other alternative is to get an amendable ticket but they do cost extra, I have always found that we have been able to change the dates on our tickets by ringing the UK to request a change & up to now we haven't been charged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trooper Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 WE use sea france Carnet tickets , It enables us to travel when we like, no bookings,( exept peak periods) at £32 pounds per crossing, you have to have 3 returns but can transfer 1 to a friend or relative, we find it V Good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith T Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 On our last trip, we went over on SeaFrance, using teh CC booking, a single outbound in August cost us £50. When we came toreturn at teh beginning of Cotober,we knew the CC would be £35/50,but having arrived at Calais on a wet Sunday (when of course you cannot contact the CC)thought we would go down to the Terminals to see what 'offers' we could get from P&O or Seafrance - the answer €150......and 'we don't do offers' was the repoly when we queried the cost. So we duly called the CC next morning, and were offered - again on Seafrance - £50 that morning or £36 the next. We opted for the former, and the only real 'cost' was the phone call to the CC who took rather a long time as they had problems with their computer! So we are quite happy to goon a 'single' as it does give us full flexibility, and as long as you can get your return ticket vai the Uk, it seems the best option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leicaman Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 We booked our Xmas trip (P&0, Dover to Calais) through the Caravan Club service all very friendly and efficient - £86 return (booked a week before departure). Sail times were Sat 9.20am return following Sun 20.40pm. Through a change in our family circumstances we arrived in Calais on Fri eve for 21.30 sailing. The extra admin fee of £60 was then charged!! We have since been told that most other operators do not make this charge? Still, much cheaper than Euro Tunnel, which would have been well over twice the price for a 6m M/H. Whilst a very rough crossing due to strong winds, the ships stabilizers do a very good job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo3090 Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Last year we booked outbound via the C&CC at £27.50 one way for 2 adults and our van on 8th May. We had booked for a late morning crossing but being novices we got there early and drove straight to the barrier. The guy there allowed us onto the earlier crossing for free, but was thanked by Ann with a packet of jaffa cakes! Coming home we again contacted the C&CC by phone and booked a return crossing for £36.50 on July 14th. Arriving 2 hours earlier than our evening sailing time we were allowed onto the mid afternoon crossing for an extra 10 Euros. The whole process with the C&CC was very easy and we have done the same for our crossing to Calais in 22 sleeps, and it only cost 5p more than last year, but Jaffa cakes have rocketed in price so they ain't getting those this time! :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Klyne - 2008-12-16 11:03 PM Mind you I would only pay by CC using that method. David Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you use your credit card, to be covered by its insurance don't you have to spend more than £100? Haven't got my 'rules' to hand but believe this is the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Mel, I don't think it was for the Insurance but for Internet fraud protection that Klyne said he would only use a CC when booking on-line. Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klyne Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 Keithl - 2008-12-17 10:20 PM Mel, I don't think it was for the Insurance but for Internet fraud protection that Klyne said he would only use a CC when booking on-line. Keith. Quite so Keith. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curly Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 Well hello there, I have booked a return trip for £46 for 12 weeks with a fixed date on return but my way of thinking is it only costs £10 excess if you return at any other time so again for the sake & hassle to ring and book from somewhere in Europe I believe a £56 return (if we did not return on our booking date) is a good deal, but we know this will not happen this time. We have been extremely lucky in the past we have actually gone out 2 days early with no extra fee AND returned a day early without extra fee. We have also booked a single in the past and although not excessive on our return was far more than the outward single fair :-> :-> :-> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickydicky Posted December 19, 2008 Author Share Posted December 19, 2008 hi curly, we've changed our single for a return now,(£48). you're right about the £10 excess not being a problem to pay if you had to, but, of course,if you only have the "saver" ticket you also have to pay the difference in fare price, which, if you obtain at the docks,is as we all know, quite a bit more expensive. as you say though, nine times out of ten, they might not charge any extra,if you show up a couple of hours beforehand.i think you were very lucky not to have to pay anything turning up a day or two early. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike88 Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 What happens if you book a return ticket and decide to return a few days after the booked date? Are you supposed to telephone the ferry company to warn them of you're non arrival for the booked return journey? I normally return earlier than the booked ferry (Sea France) with no problem other than a small excess but have often wondered what would happen if you turned up a few days later. Are all ferry companies the same? This year I'm travelling with Brittany Ferries in the spring and Sea France in the Autumn but unfortuneately do not have their terms and conditions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 The ferry companies are independent companies so no, they are not all the same. They vary their conditions from time to time, so the only way to get their relevant Ts and Cs will be to get onto their respective websites, and print them off. Then, if they do not cover your particular circumstances, phone them up and ask. Asking us on here will at best get an answer based the respondent's most recent (i.e. historic) experience and, at worst, some glib generalisations based on a different ferry on a different route! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike88 Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 What I wanted to know is what people's experiences have been in practice. That is what this site is about is'nt it - learning from others and sharing information. Of course terms and conditions change from time to time but I did not expect a response which smacked frankly of being rather condescending. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kontiki Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 I've never paid any excess for travelling at times other than the ones we booked on with the ferries or Eurotunnel, we have been asked to pay a couple of times & we either managed to talk them out of charging or got a later crossing. We do usually opt for late at night or early morning as these are usually less busy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 We have had to pay - twice! The first was when we had to come back from holiday early last year due to severe sunburn ... don't ask! It cost £55 (I think) extra with P&O via the Caravan Club who had the cheek to add an admin fee on ... not the caring club! This year we had to come back early due to our motorhome being vandalised (bricks thrown at it) smashing windows etc, it cost us around £42 extra with Eurotunnel. I would have loved to have just turned up and risked it, unfortunately with having dogs we had to get back in the 24-48 hour window of visiting a vet so had no choice but to pay up - they don't pay any attention to the reason why you are having to come back early either ... they just want your money! :-( I'm quaking in my boots wondering what's going to happen next year! ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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